Just finished reading Max Allan Collins novelization for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" and quite enjoyed it. Now am moving on to Christopher's Greather than the Sum TNG book!
SF/F Books: Chapter Two - What Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Neroon
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Some pretty good stories in that one. I particularly liked "A Study In Emerald", which I just re-read on Sunday.
I just read that one over lunch yesterday! Very good! A question, though:
I gathered that the actor and the doctor were Holmes and Watson.. Is that right? Then who are the narrator and his friend supposed to be? The formula talk made me think the friend is Einstein..
The detective we thought was Holmes was actually Professor Moriarty, his arch-nemesis; the narrator was Colonel Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's friend who appeared in "The Adventure of The Empty House". When I got to the end of it and realized that, it literally blew me away. I can understand how it wouldn't be apparent if you've never read the stories, since the revelation requires a certain level of familiarity.
EDIT: Hmm. For some reason I can't make anything happen when I click my spoiler button.
A word of advice, then. The last story in Fragile Things is a novella, "The Monarch of The Glen". It basically acts as a sequel to his novel American Gods; you should read that book before "Monarch", otherwise you might not really get who the main character is! He's really the connection, rather than any specific plot element (if I recall correctly).
And let me heartily recommend more Neil Gaiman.
American Gods is pretty good, though somewhat bleak and depressing at times. Anansi Boys (which is also a sort of sequel to AG) is lighter in tone, and very funny. And then there's his comic book series The Sandman which you absolutely shouldn't miss. And I fell in love with Stardust when I read it; the movie was good, but I still like the book better!
After reading a few Neil Gaiman stories, I have to say, I love his stories and ideas but I can't really seem to read them. It took me months to get through American Gods, and weeks to read a volume of Sandman.
Finished my second read of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Phew! I feel like I just ran a marathon. Something happens when you finally put down a nice, big book like that--not sure what, but it's something. I'll probably start The Ladies of Grace Adieu, and Other Stories tomorrow.
In an unusual move for me, I'm going to try reading two books at the same time; the other will be the first volume in The History of Middle-earth. I've read a bit of it before, and found it very intriguing. In the same vein, I also managed to find Volume One of The History of 'The Hobbit' at the library (but they don't have Volume Two
) and I read the introduction last night... It sounds like it would be a really, really cool read! I'll probably do it right after The Annotated Hobbit, which is something I've missed for some reason.
Yet *another* thing I wanted to mention is that I think the fairies have stolen me away. I've gotten immensely interested in them for some reason (and no, not to believe in them; I haven't cracked yet!) as well as the folklore of Great Britain. And the fairy tales of Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, etc.
In an unusual move for me, I'm going to try reading two books at the same time; the other will be the first volume in The History of Middle-earth. I've read a bit of it before, and found it very intriguing. In the same vein, I also managed to find Volume One of The History of 'The Hobbit' at the library (but they don't have Volume Two
) and I read the introduction last night... It sounds like it would be a really, really cool read! I'll probably do it right after The Annotated Hobbit, which is something I've missed for some reason.Yet *another* thing I wanted to mention is that I think the fairies have stolen me away. I've gotten immensely interested in them for some reason (and no, not to believe in them; I haven't cracked yet!) as well as the folklore of Great Britain. And the fairy tales of Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, etc.
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I've just started John Scalzi's The Last Colony. So far, so good.
Great trilogy of books... and this one is just as good as the first two.
I must confess that I'm on a bit of a SFF hiatus. Since completing the third Vanguard book, I've been reading a little history, and now I'm on to a light-weight tome of the current Pope's... a compilation of sermons and lectures on the connection between Christianity and Judaism.
The next book I read will be SFF.
Saw Scalzi's newest in hardbound-waiting for paperback. The series is great, but won't pay for the big books. I'm tackling the latest ST-MU book. Highly recommend-KRAD's story is worth the $ all by itself.
Hope to get the newest Turtledove soon-Iron Heart-sounds like fun.
Hope to get the newest Turtledove soon-Iron Heart-sounds like fun.
Read that trilogy. Enjoyed the hell out of it. Have fun!
Finished Moving Pictures by the one and only T.P. not long ago. Very proto-Disc in places - it's interesting to see just how far it has developed over the years. I'm onto now 334 by Thomas Disch (R.I.P.), which has been a little Brunner-esque in scope but is totally different in tone and style. Not sure if I'm enjoying it yet, but it's certainly interesting.
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